Mike Frato

Michael "Big Mike" Frato (died 26 November 1971) was the founder of the Cuyahoga County Refuse Handlers Association. He was killed in self-defense by former friend Danny Greene in 1971 after Greene attempted to terrorize Frato into joining his union.

Biography
Mike Frato was born in Cleveland, Ohio to an Italian immigrant family, and he worked in the garbage business. Frato had ten children, and he earned a nice living from his garbage routes; he befriended Danny Greene after Greene collected a gambling debt from him for Shondor Birns. Frato told Greene about how lucrative the garbage industry was, so Greene, with the help of John Nardi, received Mafia boss John T. Licavoli's blessing to enter the industry. Greene began to strong-arm garbagemen into joining the Cleveland Solid Waste Trade Guild, but Frato, who did not want to join a union, broke away from the guild and formed the more legitimate Cuyahoga County Refuse Handlers Association, and the Mafia guild fell apart soon after. In September 1971, Greene had Frato's car bombed to send him a message, and Greene deliberately killed his own friend, the informant Art Sneperger (who planted the bomb), in the process. Two months later, Frato had a friend drive his car into a park where Greene was exercising, and Frato attempted to kill Greene in a drive-by shooting. Greene fired a shot back at the car, with the bullet luckily hitting Frato in the head from a distance. Greene was acquitted of murder, as he had acted in self-defense.